| If a $20,000 car is what you got, then a $30,000 | | | | compact-sized car (say, a Mazda 3) to a like-sized |
| car would be better and a $40,000 car ideal, | | | | luxury car (say, a BMW 3-series) takes a cool |
| right? The answer to that is the one you all know | | | | dozen grand. Worse, the increase grows |
| and love: it depends. | | | | exponential as you ascend in the range: from a |
| The Good | | | | Honda Accord to an Acura RL takes $25,000, and |
| Let's start with the obvious: you're movin on up | | | | from a Toyota Avalon to a BMW 750i takes an |
| and letting the world know it, whether or not it's | | | | extra $40,000. In other words, the cost of one |
| true. That means more respect, better valet | | | | big Bimmer is enough for two Avalons and |
| treatment, more dates. Luckily, in most cases | | | | change. And don't forget maintenance costs; ever |
| there's some truth to back up the image. Despite | | | | seen the price of BMW parts? |
| the increasing availability of features on lower-end | | | | The Ugly |
| cars these days, luxury cars still live up to their | | | | It used to just be a matter of swallowing the |
| name by offering materials that look and feel | | | | price and writing the check, but many luxury |
| better (i.e. real wood in the dash, real aluminum | | | | makes have felt the need to prove the worth of |
| instead of painted plastic), soft leather (instead of | | | | their cars by confusing the hell out of the drivers. |
| hard leather, or leather mixed with vinyl), better | | | | First it was Mercedes' COMAND. Then it was |
| sound insulation - all standard. Luxury cars are also | | | | BMW's iDrive - by far the worst of the bunch - |
| held to a higher standard of performance with | | | | and finally Audi's MultiMedia Interface. To a lesser |
| more cylinders, better brakes and suspensions, | | | | degree, heavy-handed electronics and interfaces |
| and best of all, often trade up from plain | | | | have crept into Japanese, American, and British |
| front-wheel-drive layouts to rear-wheel-drive, | | | | luxury cars as well. What good is that 14-speaker |
| making driving more interesting. Who wouldn't | | | | stereo if you have to stop and look up in the |
| want their commute to be cozier and more fun | | | | manual how to change the station? Some of |
| at the same time? As a bonus, the owning | | | | these electronics have also proven to be quite |
| experience will likely be richer all the way through, | | | | troublesome, causing the average reliability |
| thanks to more courteous sales/service and a | | | | rankings of their parent companies to nosedive. |
| longer warranty. | | | | Nothing luxurious about that. |
| The Bad | | | | But if you have the patience and tolerance, the |
| That stuff costs money. Stepping up from a | | | | world's best cars are waiting for you. At a price. |